Iditarod Attack: Snowmachiner Kills One Dog, Injures Several Others

A snowmachiner has confessed to attacking two Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race teams which resulted in one sled dog killed and several others injured.

Arnold Demoski was arrested Saturday afternoon in Nolato, Alaska. He’s charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and six counts of fifth-degree criminal mischief. Demoski said that he was drunk.

Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle and Denali Park’s Jeff King reported that a snowmachiner repeatedly tried to hit their dog teams as they traveled to the Yukon River checkpoint of Nulato early Saturday morning. The snowmachine hit King’s team, according to a press release from the Iditarod Trail Committee, resulting in the death of 3-year-old Nash and non-life-threatening injuries to two others: 2-year-old Banjo and 3-year-old Crosby. A dog in Zirkle’s team also received a non-life-threatening injury.